THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 522, 30 November 1912, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

MAINTENANCE OF HEALTH AND CONDITION IN DAIRY COWS. The rapid advance of the dairy industry has had tha effect of correspondingly increasing the value of good J dairy cows, and as a result of this increased value of their stock, farmers have more than ever forced upon them th 3 necessity of maintaining their milking cows in good health and good condition, in order that a satisfactory yearly profit may be made. Serious forms of disease, likey to cause death, are fortunately not very prevalent here, but there are other troubles, not deadly in their nature, which yet when affecting dairy cows, seriously impair both the quantity and the quality of the milk yield of cows suffering from them and naturally reduces the value of the animal to the owner. Some of these affections as for instance, contagious mammitis, may be expected to attack most cows exposed to infection, no matter how good their general health and their vitality may be. But there are other disease which attack cows, whose constitution have been weakened and their bodily vitality lowered by various causes, for instance, lack of proper winter feed, are likely to be unable to resist. when stronger animals Would remain unaffected. It i 3 sound practice in every way to do everything reasonably possible to prevent disease occurring, and one important feature in disease prevention is to foster the natural resistant powers of the cows by good management and good feeding, so that their bodily health being maintained at its highest level, they are in the best position to resist disease, when it comes their way.

The practice of weeding outand discarding unprofitable cows is good, and is indeed, a necessity to profitable dairy farming, and though the movement in this direction is not yet general throughout dairying districts, what has been done, together with the greatest number of heifers bred, either wholly or partly from heavy milking strains, which have been brought into the herd has had the effect of increasing the proportion of heavy milking cows in the country. These are the really prufitable cows, which every dairy farmer wants, and the more of them we have in the Dominion the better for everyone. But it must not be forgotten that the greater the milk yield of a cow the greater the necessity existing for her owner using all effort to ensure that the animal is well cared for and well fed and nouriehed throughout the year. The increase in the milk yield, especially if extended over a prolonged milking season (and that is what the farmer wants) means that a correspondingly larger proportion of the nourishment obtained by the cow from her food goes to produce milk, and a.correspondingly less proportion is available for the maintenance of the hea th and vitality of the bodily system generally. Thus, unless the proper methods of feeding and general management are adopted the advantages derived from an increased yield may be expected to bs more or less counter-balanced, to the detriment of the farmer's interests, by the greater prevalence of sickness, calving troubles and constitutional troubles generally among bis dairy stock. These facts are well worthy of the attention of dairy farmers, and just at the present season one of the most important points in the maintenance of sound health in dairy cows, viz., the provisiun of a sufficient supply of good winter feed, should be remembered and acted upon. LINSEED OIL AS MEDICINE. ALWAYS USE ,RAW—NEVER BOILED. Linseed oil is of very great pervice in treating stock ailments, but when using this for animals care mustb e taken that it is raw oil and not the "boiled" which is more frequently used for paints and varnishes, as this in its preparation has lost its active principle and is apt to produce an effect opposite from that expected. Linseed oil has many uses; in small doses it is very feeding. Like cod liver oil, butter, lard, and fats of all sorts, it can be used as a vehicle for the administration of the more potent drugs; and in large doses it is a very valuable purgative that can be depended on and has not the violent properties of croton oil and other drastic purees, which often gripe and unless given with some carminative, cause pain and distress. For delicate and light-fleshed horses one ounce in a bran mash twice a day will often work wonders and bring them into a sleek and healthy condition, which ia often permanent. But it is as a purgative that it is so valuable. One pint usually ensures profuse purgation in horses. A TON OF FARMYARD MANURE. Of a ton of fresh farmyard manure about three-quarters consists of water. It contains also from 55 to 651b of ash an about 5001b of organic substance —that is to say, matter which is capable of tieing driven off by burning. Except for its mechanical and indirect benefit of to the soil, all the fertiising value of this 5001b of organic matter is due to the nitrogen in it. In other words, all there is of actual plant food in the large mass of organic matter applied to the soil in dressing of farmyard manure is the nitrogen contained in it, besides the small quantities of the mineral constituents, phosphate of lime and potash, in the earth. This is not written with the object of depreciating the vnlue of farmyard manure, but to indicate the desirability of supplementing it with dressing of phosphate and potash in the form of chemical manures, ' —B—* Bagaglßga — a * aE>a,lß — a,,C * Tonking's Linseed